I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a holder for thin planar objects, such as a guitar pick, that provides convenient access to the object. More particularly, the present invention relates to a guitar pick holder adapted to be mounted to a guitar that provides quick and easy access to the guitar pick by a musician during playing of the guitar, and easy storage as well.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Existing guitar pick holders are generally designed to keep a plurality of guitars picks in one container. Typically, such guitar pick holders include stacking mechanisms that receive and dispense guitar picks one-at-a-time. Guitar picks are placed on the stack such that the last guitar pick placed on the stack is the first guitar pick removed from the stack. To place a guitar pick on the stack, it is necessary to press down gently on the stack while sliding the guitar pick in place at the top of the stack. Likewise, to remove a guitar pick from the stack, it is necessary to press down gently and slide the guitar pick off the stack. Thus, concentration and accuracy is required for placement and removal of a guitar pick. Also, one cannot firmly grasp and control the guitar pick until it has been removed from the stack.
For convenient access to a guitar pick during playing of the guitar, it is desirable to have the guitar pick holder on the guitar. However, damage to the guitar must be avoided. Use of double-sided adhesives to attach a guitar pick holder to the front face of the guitar would damage the surface of the guitar and mar its finish. Moreover, it may affect the sound generated by the guitar.
The attachment of items to the outer surface of a stringed instrument, without damage to the surface of the instrument, are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,948,476 to S. Kuniyosi, which issued on Apr. 6, 1976, provides an adjustable bar that attaches to two sides of a guitar and supports a music stand in front of the guitar. In particular, the adjustable bar includes one pair of suction cups attached to the bottom side of the guitar and another pair of suction cups attached to the back of the guitar. The adjustable bar and music stand, however, add substantial weight to the guitar and are not convenient for holding a small item, such as a guitar pick.
Other types of suction-cup based holders for receiving planar objects, such as a guitar pick, are generally described in U.S. Pat. No. 840,618 to S. Golombek, which issued on Jan. 8, 1907, titled DISPLAY HOLDER FOR WINDOWS; U.S. Pat. No. 979,436 to J. E. Corbin, which issued on Dec. 27, 1910, titled VACUUM SUPPORTING DEVICE; U.S. Pat. No. 1,851,770 to E. B. Johnson, which issued on Mar. 29, 1932, titled CLIP; U.S. Pat. No. 2,006,843 to T. W. Russell, which issued on Jul. 2, 1935, titled CLIP; U.S. Pat. No. 2,133,020 to A. Fehrenbach, which issued on Oct. 11, 1938, titled SLIP-ON SHOWER SPRAY HOLDER; U.S. Pat. No. 2,164,318 to M. E. Graunke, which issued on Jul. 4, 1939, titled CARD HOLDER; U.S. Pat. No. 2,518,401 to W. M. Thompson, which issued on Aug. 8, 1950, titled DRAFTSMAN'S INSTRUMENT RACK; U.S. Pat. No. 2,621,880 to R. E. Wester, which issued on Dec. 16, 1952, titled LID REMOVER FOR WALL CAN OPENERS; U.S. Pat. No. 2,642,603 to H. L. Mills, which issued on Jun. 23, 1953, titled COMBINED BRUSH AND SOAP HOLDER; and British Patent No. 576,759 to K. S. Binnie titled DEVICE FOR SECURING ELECTRIC WIRE.
However, the above holders do not provide quick and easy access to a guitar pick. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,164,318, cited above, provides a one-piece card holder that is made of a resilient material. The holder includes a suction cup for attachment to a flat surface and a substantially circular head having a plurality of radially extending slits. Cards are inserted edgewise into the slits for support therein. However, each slit is very narrow and the slits are positioned substantially apart from each other. Thus, one must be attentive in matching an edge of each planar object to a particular slit and, then, aggressively sliding the planar object into the slit.
It is further known that planar objects may be conveniently supported within windings of a spring. For example, U.S. Pat. 2,482,258 to E. R. Funk, Jr., et al., which issued on Sep. 20, 1949, titled COIN HOLDER, provides a suction-cup based coin holder having a spring secured horizontally across and parallel to a rigid, preferably aluminum, flat plate. A suction cup is secured to the underside of the plate for attachment to a flat surface. However, the spring is linearly positioned horizontal to the flat surface and, thus, coins must be inserted to and removed from the coin holder from directly above. In addition, due to the elasticity of the suction cup, either end of the flat plate may tilt downward and contact the flat surface as a coin is inserted to or removed from the coin holder. Thus, this coin holder could not be used to hold a guitar pick since it may damage the surface and mar its finish.
Another example of a holder having a spring that supports planar objects is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 780,443 to A. J. Phillips, et al., which issued on Jan. 17, 1905, titled LETTER RACK. This patent provides a letter rack that includes a flat wooden base, an arched metal former and a wire coil or spring drawn over the arched metal former. The spring has an inner boundary that is positioned against the arched metal former and an outer boundary for receiving various objects, such as letters. The arched form of the spring causes the distance between windings to be wider at the outer boundary than at the inner boundary. Thus, the ability of the letter rack to quickly and easily receive objects is much better than the other holders described above. However, the letter holder has an arched metal former attached to a flat wooden base and, thus, cannot be used for a guitar pick holder since the rigid metal former and wooden base would damage the surface of the guitar and mar its finish and, again, may affect the guitar's sound. In addition, the letter holder does not includes any means for attaching items to the outer surface of the guitar without damaging the surface.
Other examples of holders having springs that support objects in their windings are provided in U.S. Pat. No. 806,691 to F. Merten, which issued on Dec. 5, 1905, titled TOOL RACK; U.S. Pat. No. 1,756,885 to J. V. Schafer, which issued on Apr. 29, 1930, titled CARD HOLDER; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,456,302 to L. M. Mocnik, which issued on Dec. 14, 1948, titled SUPPORTING DEVICE.
However, similar to the other U.S. patents cited above, none of the above patents describe or suggest a guitar pick holder that provides quick and easy access of a guitar pick held by the guitar pick holder and will not damage or mar the outer surface of a guitar, affect the guitar's sound or interfere with the guitar player when the guitar pick holder is mounted on the outer surface.